I doubt they would ever go 100% subscription model. The only worry, and it's really not much of one IMO, is if they did offer a subscription model with some 'subscription only' perks. That would be annoying, but that would be about as far as I would expect them to take it.

Looking at current subscription models that are out there, most of them offer the software for sale as well, Slate, East West, and Bitwig come to mind. I could see them going the Bitwig route, offering "update plans", but maybe Komplete Care™ is still fresh enough in company memory to prevent that from becoming the method.

There's no mystery to what NI are doing,so we're not mystified,but we won't have them treat us as fools !

It's all about the beans $$$

The big mystery for me is why this thread is so negative

Like many here I have a Komplete 12 licence which I guess is dropping in value as we speak. Others are in much deeper with hardware that could soon be on ebay at knock down prices.

All we know derives from rumours of rumours that came from a very corporate speak statement that is deliberately vague in its lack of detail.

I don't think that having all sides of the debate exposed and open for a lively discussion is negative at all...

It's important that the pros and cons of any situation are explored and weighed up so that considered reactions can be arrived at in due course...

Devil's advocates are not the devil...

When I was a younger man,I spent a bit of time herding sheep and you have plenty of time to reflect upon the more philosophical side of sheep herding...

It's very similar in many ways to how humans are controlled...

Speculation is never really helpful and I hope that I have done nothing to fuel any unwarranted speculation in this thread..

If I have done so,I apologise unreservedly...

But let's not be fooled here...

The corporate statement that NI released is the typical BS that is full of flowery words and key phrases that are intended to impress,rather than to inform...

The real reason for the cutbacks is to increase the profit margin and by "unifying" their platforms and any of the other BS they waxed on about so lyrically,they can cut costs,restruxture and then get all of the true believers signed up to their bold new plan...

Whether this involves a subscription service is yet to be seen...

But whatever happens,NI's vision of the future of sound and my own have become divergent and with every corporate move they make,we have become more diametrically opposed...

It's no coincidence that our differences became more pronounced as the bean counters slowly took over the reigns at NI...

"I used to love her,but it's all over now"

Last edited by digitalboytn on Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Latest info from NI - Sep 13
On the subject of subscriptions, we understand some people feel strongly about this. Please let me reassure you that we’re not about to charge you subscriptions for the products you already own. One of Native’s aims is to remove barriers for people who want to make music. And for some people, that barrier might be financial. We’re exploring lots of different ways to address this including (but not limited to) subscriptions. A recent example of how we’re doing this is the introduction of PayPal installment plans in our online shop. But we want to do more.

Of course we can’t share everything that we’re working on. But I hope this gives you some insight into what’s going on at Native.

Yes, we know. You're working on the deal of our lifetimes - we have complete faith that this will end in just the right way, and that our minds will be gobbled by the sheer creativity of this marketing advance.

For my part, I am sure all the workers who were let go regret not seeing this effort through to completion.

What I cannot say for certain is whether you understand how deep our feelings are for the whole idea of well-conceived, hitherto unexplored, seemingly divinely inspired (or perhaps space-alien assisted) feats of constant payment for the ever-more-brilliant reintroduction of well-known products. THAT is the sort of spark of genius that distinguishes a company and the kind that inspires the - artist in us all.

Without leaving Mulab which remains my main DAW, I adopted Cakewalk by BandLab when it resurrected and I use it intensively because it features some things I miss in Mulab. And I think that I'm far to be the only one to have adopted Sonar when it resurrected with its new name. Anybody hasn't any statistics. I'm pretty sure that this DAW has probably not lost so many users given that those who leaved out were replaced by those who came in. And it is also impossible to know who, among those who went to another DAW, came back to their DAW used for years. In my opinion pretending that this DAW lost many of its users is a pure imagination from people who are mainly prompt to criticize everything and anything.

Back to the topic, I have been following all this thread from its start and what I have seen on all the pages is essentially imagination and pure (if not crazy) speculations.

They lost users and gained some newbies. I wish them success we have not yet had a successful freeware DAW.